Broccoli Calzone

Mmmm broccoli! Most people don't rave about broccoli, but if you make this recipe you will be singing it's praises.

These are a good way to get picky kids or adults to eat broccoli. My daughter loves vegetables and my son has to be coaxed to eat them at times. So it is nice to have veggies infused into a meal and not just on the side.

To make this a simpler recipe you can buy premade pizza dough at the store. Dough made from scratch will take 2-3 hours to be ready so you will need to plan ahead. These calzones also taste great when dipped in tomato sauce.

INGREDIENTS

Pizza Dough:

6 c. flour

1/4 c. olive oil 

2 1/2 c. lukewarm water

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 (1/4 oz packages) or 2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tbs. sugar

Filling:

4 c. chopped broccoli florets fresh or frozen

3 tbs. olive oil

 4 garlic cloves, diced small

2 c. ricotta cheese    (if you want to make fresh ricotta click here for my homemade ricotta recipe)

1 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese shredded

salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Pizza Dough:

1. Place flour and salt in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add lukewarm water, yeast, sugar, and olive oil. Mix by hand or with your paddle attachment on your stand mixer on low until dough just begins to form into a ball. If dough remains sticky, add flour a tbs. at a time until ball forms. If dough is too shaggy or dry add water a tbs. at a time until ball forms.

2. Knead dough by hand or with hook attachment on stand mixer for about 15-20 minutes. Dough should be stretchy and not tear easily. Test by taking a small piece, balling it up then stretching it out, if it tears knead for a few minutes longer. If it stretches thin without tearing, roll your dough into a ball, place it into a large bowl. Add a couple of tsp. of oil to the bowl and roll the ball in the oil.

3. Cover with plastic wrap, place in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size.    

NOTE: if you would like to make your dough whole wheat, replace half of the flour with whole wheat flour and let the dough rise twice. After it rises the first time, punch it down and let it double in size a second time.

Calzones:

1. Place broccoli,  garlic and 3 tbs. olive oil in a large sauce pan. Put on burner set to medium heat, cover with lid. Let cook for about 10-15 minutes, until the broccoli becomes tender. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste. I use about a tsp. of each. 

2. Place ricotta and shredded mozzarella in a large bowl. Once broccoli has cooled add it to the cheeses and mix together. 

3. On a surface that has been dusted with flour, cut dough into 6-8 equal pieces (depending on how big you want your calzone). Roll or stretch your dough into circles, getting the dough as thin as you can get it without tearing. If the dough becomes difficult to work with, let it rest for a few minutes and try again.

4. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grease 2 sheet pans.

5. Add 2-3 tbs. of filling to the center of your dough. Give yourself about an inch of space between the filling and the outer edge. Fold your circle in half so that the edges meet, pinch the edges shut with your fingers. Don't leave any gaps for the filling to ooze out of. Cut one or two slits in the top of calzone with a knife. Gently lift them from your work surface and place on pans. Place pans in the oven and bake until golden, about 25 minutes.